The four Visegrad states — Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia (until 1993 Czechoslovakia) and Hungary — form a compact area between Germany and Austria in the west and the states of the former USSR in the east. They are bounded by the Baltic in the north and the Danube river in the south. They are cut by the Sudeten and Carpathian mountain ranges, which divide Poland off from the other states. Poland is an extension of the North European plain and like the latter is drained by rivers that flow from south to north west — the Oder, the Vlatava and the Elbe, the Vistula and the Bug. The Danube is the great exception, flowing from its source eastward, turning through two 90-degree turns to end up in the Black Sea, forming the barrier and often the political frontier between central Europe and the Balkans. Hungary to the east of the Danube is also an open plain. The region is historically and culturally part of western Europe, but its eastern Marches now represents a vital strategic zone between Germany and the core of the European Union to the west and the Russian zone to the east.

Economy and Society

Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy

▪ Abstract This chapter provides a conceptual framework for integrating the array of variables defined in diffusion research to explicate their influence on an actor's decision to adopt an innovation. The framework groups the variables into three major components. The first component includes characteristics of the innovation itself, within which two sets of variables are defined concerning public versus private consequences and benefits versus costs of adoption. A second component involves the characteristics of innovators (actors) that influence the probability of adoption of an innovation. Within this component six sets of variables concern societal entity of innovators (either people, organizations, states, etc.), familiarity with the innovation, status characteristics, socioeconomic characteristics, position in social networks, and personal qualities. The third component involves characteristics of the environmental context that modulate diffusion via structural characteristics of the modern world. T...

Integrating models of diffusion of innovations: a Conceptual Framework.

From Santiago to Seattle: transnational advocacy groups restructuring world politics / Sanjeev Khagram, James V. Riker, and Kathryn Sikkink

Restructuring World Politics: Transnational Social Movements, Networks, and Norms

The New Transnational Activism

The participation of transnational actors in global policy-making is increasingly seen as a means to democratize global governance. Drawing on alternative theories of democracy and existing empirical evidence, we assess the promises and pitfalls of this vision. We explore how the structuring and operation of international institutions, public-private partnerships, and transnational actors themselves may facilitate expanded participation and enhanced accountability in global governance. We find considerable support for an optimistic verdict on the democratizing potential of transnational actor involvement, but also identify hurdles in democratic theory and the practice of global governance that motivate a more cautious outlook. In conclusion, we call for research that explores the conditions for democracy in global governance through a combination of normative political theory and positive empirical research.

Democracy in Global Governance: The Promises and Pitfalls of Transnational Actors

The participation of transnational actors in global policymaking is increasingly seen as a means to democratize global governance. Drawing on alternative theories of democracy and existing empirical evidence, we assess the promises and pitfalls of this vision. We explore how the structuring and operation of international institutions, public-private partnerships, and transnational actors themselves may facilitate expanded participation and enhanced accountability in global governance. We find considerable support for an optimistic verdict on the democratizing potential of transnational actor involvement, but also identify hurdles in democratic theory and the practice of global governance that motivate a more cautious outlook. In conclusion, we call for research that explores the conditions for democracy in global governance through a combination of normative political theory and positive empirical research.

1. New Perspectives on Transnational Activism 2. State Power and Transnational Activism 3. Governance Regimes and the Politics of Discursive Representation 4. Transnational Activism, Institutions, and Global Democratization 5. World Citizenship and Transnational Activism 6. Transnational Activism and Electronic Communication: Cyber-Rainbow-Warriors in Action 7. Putting Transnational Activism in its Place: HIV/AIDS in the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle and Beyond 8. Transnational Activism by Malaysians: Foci, Tradeoffs, and Implications 9. Transnational Activism and the Pursuit of Democratization in Indonesia: National, Regional and Global Networks 10. 'Democratization' in Taiwan and Its Discontents: Transnational Activism as a Critique

Transnational Activism in Asia : Problems of power and democracy

Democracy and Diffusion : Transnational Lesson-Drawing among Indonesian Pro-Democracy Actors

The development of civil society has varied greatly across the former Soviet Union. The Baltic states have achieved a high level of integration with the West and European Union membership, while some regions in Russia lag far behind.

Now for the first time there is a comparative study of civil society and democratization across post-Soviet national borders. Acknowledging the enormous variation throughout the region, the book offers unique data on developments in Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Applying an innovative analytical framework derived from theories of democratization, civil society, social movements and transnational relations, the researchers have formulated broader comparisons and generalisations without neglecting the specific post-Soviet context. The book provides a systematic comparison across sectors as well as nations, and includes chapters on NGOs, the state and conflict, and transnationalisation. Quantitative survey data is combined with qualitative interviews and case study research to both confirm previous findings about the weakness of post-communist civil society and to qualify previous research.

Anders Uhlin

Papers

Democracy in Global Governance: The Promises and Pitfalls of Transnational Actors

Democracy in Global Governance: The Promises and Pitfalls of Transnational Actors

Transnational Activism in Asia : Problems of power and democracy

Democracy and Diffusion : Transnational Lesson-Drawing among Indonesian Pro-Democracy Actors

Post-Soviet Civil Society: Democratization in Russia and the Baltic States